CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The No. 6 Harvard men's squash team was downed, 8-1, by No. 3 Princeton in the first round of the 2011 CSA Men's National Team Championship.

Using a three-court system, the Tigers took the first six matches to jump out to a 6-0 lead, but not without a fight from the Crimson. Alexander Ma, playing in the No. 8 spot, was up 2-1 before Clay Blackston came back and captured the match, 10-12, 11-8, 10-12, 12-10, 11-6. In the No. 9 match, Harvard's William Ahmed stormed back from two sets down to tie the match at 2-2. Nikhil Seth prevailed for the Tigers though, taking the close fifth set, 11-8.

Brandon McLaughlin picked up Harvard's only win of the day in the No. 4 match. Facing Kelly Shannon, McLaughlin went up two sets early and came away with a 3-1 victory in the end.

The Crimson will be back on the courts tomorrow against No. 7 Dartmouth at 3 p.m.